LACK AND HOM'S WICKEDLY WARPED TECHNO
Sam Melancon's semi-monthly night MOTOR is back to brilliantly darken your life. Tonight, Lack (North Carolina producer Philip Maier) makes his Seattle debut. He ain't your garden-variety minimal-techno musician. Lack's recent EP on Morphine Records, Expect Night Work, contains four tracks that recall the crumbling-civilization atmospheres of Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle, set to rhythms geared to disrupt your heartbeat. The approach is stark and stoic, but the emotional impact is profound. To hear this exceptionally warped techno on a good club system will have a powerfully psychotropic effect. Olympia's HOM (Ashley P. Svn) recently released Bound/Somn as part of Debacle Records' MOTOR series of 12-inches. It's the sort of grim, discordant techno (think of the artwork from Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures cover transferred into sound) that really warms my heart. With Apartment Fox, Simic, and DJ Kaori Suzuki. Kremwerk, 9 pm, $5, 21+.
GOLD PANDA'S CUDDLY CLUB MUSIC
The popular British Ghostly International recording artist Gold Panda brings his casually danceable house music to Seattle again (we love his cuddly club cuts). His chill, bauble-encrusted productions induce an understated euphoria in your limbs. Sometimes the soft-sell approach wins, but Gold Panda's newest album, Half of Where You Live, has a cut that reminds me of Robert Armani's "Circus Bells," so he's accelerating the metabolism a bit. With Lane 8. Neumos, 8 pm, $17 adv, all ages.
HOUSE LEGEND DERRICK CARTER TO RAISE RE-BAR'S ROOF
What happens when Seattle's foremost house of house music—Re-bar—hosts Chicago house-music titan Derrick Carter? Droves of zealots come out to raise the roof and burn thousands of calories to the man's expertly mixed and selected sets, honed over the last quarter century or so. But he's no purist. Carter's sets usually branch out into disco, soul, jazz, and electro pop, connecting the dots with these styles and the spiritual funkiness of house music proper. With Karl Kamakahi, Almond Brown, and Space Otter. Re-bar, 10 pm–4 am, $22.50 adv, 21+.
SWOON TO XENO & OAKLANDER'S BEAUTIFULLY SAD ANALOG SYNTHS
Local DJs Sharlese Metcalf (KEXP's Audioasis) and Kate Moore run False Prophet, a monthly devoted to minimal wave, industrial, and post punk. For tonight, they snagged one of America's foremost analog-synth units, Brooklyn duo Xeno & Oaklander. For X&O, it's perpetually 1981 and overcast, and the key is always minor. The vocals by French/Norwegian singer Miss Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride are glum, and the synthesizers swirl melodramatically, articulating a beautiful sadness. It's not surprising Ghostly International signed X&O: They fit right in with its roster of expressive electronic artists who excel both in the studio and on the live circuit, and the new Par Avion is a sprightly and melancholy delight. If you enjoy dancing with tears in your eyes, Xeno & Oaklander can help you in this pursuit. With Soft Metals. Kremwerk, 9 pm, $10, 21+. 
